British government responds to ‘Ban Trump’ petition

The British government has responded to a petition calling for Donald Trump to be barred from entering the U.K., which has been signed by more than half a million people.

The government said it “may exclude” someone if their presence is “non-conducive to the public good” but stopped short of saying that the billionaire American tycoon falls into that category.

The government is obliged to consider holding a parliamentary debate on any petition that gets more than 100,000 signatures. As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, 565,412 had supported the call to bar Trump.

A House of Commons petitions committee will meet next week to decide whether to hold a parliamentary debate on the petition.

The petition says: “The U.K. has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the U.K. If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the ‘unacceptable behavior’ criteria to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as powerful.”

In response on Wednesday, the government said that it “does not routinely comment on individual immigration and exclusion decisions.”

But it added that Home Secretary Theresa May “has said that coming to the U.K. is a privilege and not a right and she will continue to use the powers available to prevent from entering the U.K. those who seek to harm our society and who do not share our basic values. Exclusion powers are very serious and are not used lightly.”

“The Government recognizes the strength of feeling against the remarks and will continue to speak out against comments which have the potential to divide our communities, regardless of who makes them. We reject any attempts to create division and marginalization amongst those we endeavor to protect.”

The petition was launched after the Republican presidential candidate called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” There was an outcry, but Trump was unrepentant, saying that Paris and London had “radicalized” no-go areas and the U.S. risked going down the same path. He told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that “London and other places … are so radicalized that the police are afraid for their own lives.”

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Trump’s comments on Muslims were “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.”

Boris Johnson, mayor of London, went further, saying Trump’s comments were “ill-informed” and “utter nonsense.” He added: “The only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”

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jubus

This is ridiculous for banning someone from saying or entring one country because of one’s views. Everyone has the right to think and to say, whatever wants. This is the very basics of freedom.
UK is already a dictatorship, because it has something like a “hate speech” ban. Sorry, but what is this “hate speech” precisely? If I say, that homosexuality isn’t normal, then I will also be banned from entering this “island of freedom”?

Posted on 12/30/15 | 6:15 PM CEST

Dbhelmz

Let wait till radical Islamists murder 127 innocent People in UK, then lets what they say

Posted on 12/30/15 | 6:42 PM CEST

leez

yeah seriously.. Trump is the only one actually willing to help the Middle East by backing Assad.

Don’t pay attention to what people say- pay attention to what they do! (and in this situation I mean Trumps policies)

Posted on 12/31/15 | 4:56 AM CEST

freddy friday

Politico will be laughing out the other side of their two faces when this new app is modified to block Politico. They’re espousing their own demise.

Posted on 12/31/15 | 5:43 AM CEST

carl

Interesting so British is saying that it is a Privileged to enter Britain and not right. That privilege for non citizen can be revoked or even banned entering into Britain. Does that mean that Trump was correct, that United States can ban a non citizen from entering the United States? Thank You Britain for proving a point. Oh Good thing we have freedom of speech, it looks like you guys do not.

Posted on 1/3/16 | 6:53 AM CEST

tbone66

If America investigates a Mosque and someone was saying hateful things against America, guess what, they will either be on a watch list or evicted from the country.or jailed.